Fiber reinforced thermoplastic sheets for thermoforming

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10259157-B2
Application number	US-201514976169-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 21, 2015
Priority date	Dec 21, 2015
Publication date	Apr 16, 2019
Grant date	Apr 16, 2019

Abstract

A method of manufacturing a fiber reinforced thermoplastic part includes placing fibers, fixing the fibers in place, cutting the fibers, infusing the fibers with a thermoplastic polymer, stacking multiple sheets of the fibers, and molding the multiple sheets together. A method of manufacturing a part includes placing original fibers, fixing the fibers in place, cutting the fibers, infusing the fibers with a thermoplastic polymer, stacking multiple sheets of the fibers, molding the multiple sheets together to form a moldable sheet, and applying a mold to the moldable sheet.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of manufacturing a fiber reinforced thermoplastic part, comprising:
placing original fibers into a sheet in a two-dimensional pattern wherein the two-dimensional pattern is based upon a final three-dimensional pattern;
fixing the original fibers in place in the sheet by applying a binder to produce fixed fibers;
nicking the fixed fibers to form fixed, nicked fibers wherein nicks are located in the fixed fibers to allow the fixed, nicked fibers to bend, and the nicks are located according to the final three-dimensional pattern;
infusing the fixed, nicked fibers with a thermoplastic polymer to form thermoplastic infused fibers;
stacking multiple sheets of the thermoplastic infused fibers; and
using pressure to mold the multiple sheets together into the final three-dimensional pattern.

2. The method of manufacturing of claim 1 , wherein nicking the fixed fibers comprises using at least one laser to cut the fixed fibers.

3. The method of manufacturing of claim 1 , wherein infusing the fixed, nicked fibers comprises one of slot coating or infusion molding.

4. The method of manufacturing of claim 1 , wherein stacking the multiple sheets comprises stacking the sheets according to a predetermined arrangement of the cuts.

5. The method of manufacturing of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining the two-dimensional pattern of the fibers; and
using an automated fiber placement machine to place the fibers.

6. A method of manufacturing a part, comprising:
placing original fibers into a two-dimensional pattern based upon a mold;
fixing the original fibers in place by applying a binder to produce fixed fibers, fixed in accordance with the two-dimensional pattern;
nicking the fixed fibers to form cuts in the fixed fibers, wherein the cuts are located based upon the mold;
infusing the fixed, nicked fibers with a thermoplastic polymer to produce thermoplastic infused fibers;
stacking multiple sheets of the thermoplastic infused fibers;
using pressure to mold the multiple sheets together to form a moldable sheet; and
applying the mold to the moldable sheet.

7. The method of manufacturing of claim 6 , wherein fixing the original fibers comprises spraying the original fibers with a binder.

8. The method of manufacturing of claim 6 , wherein nicking the fixed fibers comprises using at least one laser to cut the fixed fibers.

9. The method of manufacturing of claim 6 , wherein infusing the fixed fibers comprises one of slot coating or infusion molding.

10. The method of manufacturing of claim 6 , wherein stacking the multiple sheets comprises stacking the sheets according to a predetermined arrangement of the cuts.

Assignees

• Palo Alto Res Ct Inc

Inventors

• Beck Victor Alfred

Classifications

• B29C51/145

  having at least one layer of textile or fibrous material combined with at least one plastics layer · CPC title

• B29K2101/12

  Thermoplastic materials · CPC title

• B29L2031/00

  Other particular articles · CPC title

• B29C51/264 Primary

  Auxiliary operations prior to the thermoforming operation, e.g. cutting (B29C51/42, B29C51/46 take precedence) · CPC title

• B29C43/02

  of articles of definite length, i.e. discrete articles {(B29C35/0227 takes precedence)} · CPC title